Diffusion reaction



sans waarna, or traina-arcanes, enterar;la assrenoa 're ranura' rua CHEMISGHE Htl/DUSTW 'AUEJLENGJESIELLSC GERMANY, .d CMPUMATIUN application died llllaygl, that, serial ldltlt, and. tn Germany tray 2s, 192i.

Yllhe new process consists in a peculiar .application of didusion in order to accelerate chemical reactions between two or more gases which reactions progress practically slowly, or to elitect such reactions, which upon the ordinary mixing of the gases do not talreplace to any substantial degree.

The peculiar application ot didusion consists in that the gases intended to react are la brought to diderent sides ot a porous perth qu Mi tion. A torni ot execution ot the process., which is specially adapted for many cases, consists in using a partition in which suitable catalyzers are embedded in such a manner that they extend through the entire thiclrnese ot the partition. According to a further iin.w provement of process, gases are made to tlow along bot-h sides ot the partition, preferably in counter-current. A

.lt special torni ot carrying out the process in which there is utilised the :teature ot easy and unitorm heating of the whole apparatus or one ot its chambers, consists in that one chamber the gases orthe gas are or is genu erated by chemical reaction, said gas oi being designed to come into reacti gas in the chamber on the other partition.,

Applicant has made the peculiar that chemical reactionss which progress rery slowly in a mixture oil two gases, are outsid-In erably accelerated it the two gasesare on the two sides of a porous partit-ion while the mit:n ing ot' the gases talres place in the pores ot the partition. .rlrcetaldehydein the term oli vapour and theoaygen ot' the air, tor instance, react only very slowly in the tree mixture, whilst it they are separated by a porous par tition the reaction can be carried through quantitatively much more rapidly. Fllhe en planation 'ltor this phenomenon is that the ditilusion ot the two gases with-one another ocu earring under these conditions through the partition on the capillary inner boundary ol the partition, makes the gases encounter one another under other conditions than in miam ture in a tree space. llhe edect may there-tore be designated as catalytic in the meaning oit the surtace catalysis or adsorption catalysis, but it diders trom these two lrnown terms ot catalysis in that the reaction components penetrate into one another untrained on both sides ot the catalyaing substance according to the laws oit diusion of the two gases and are positively conducted by the energy ot' diil'uslon towards one another. 'llhis ditt'usion speed will consequently be maintained at the maximum, it the diiiusion and reaction product which in this case is not a incre mixture but contains also the product oif the chemical reaction, is drawn oli:l as rapidly as possible, e. g. it the gases. are made to tlow along the two surfaces of the partition. llt' the currents llow in opposite directions the reaction takes piace most rapidly and most completely.. rlhe saine result may be obtained by any other manner of removing the reaction products from the reacting gases.

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rllhe reaction process may lbe further improved by impregnating thewhole partition with any specific cata'lyzer for the desired reaction, tor instance lerric salts :lor the reaction of acetaldchyde and oxygen. ln this case there will be the added advantage that the reting gases can be brought, under these conons, positively in Contact with very large quantities ot a specil'io catalyser.

practical advantage ot the new proces consists in the simplicity and durabilityq ot the apparatus, as the catalyser within the partition tired in the apparatus cannot be :rubbed ott, as will happen it several sui-'tace coated carriers are loosely heaped. in a receptacle.

llt more than two gases here to he dealt with, e., it there is, at least on one side ot' thc diaphragm, a mixture ot two gases, the dialyaing ellect ol the diaphragm, hnowu per se, will be added to the ditl'usion etlfects de scribed it the components ol the mired gas have diderent molecular sizes. lin this case only one component ot the mixture will essen-y tially penetrate into the partition and react in the same with the gas or component ot a minture coming troni the other side..

.it Very simple apparatus t'or carrying out this process consists preferably oit an 1nner compartment enclosed by a porous cylinder having an upper and lower pipe-connection and otan outer compartment enclosed by a tight metal wall into which end two tubes one at the top and the other at the bottom. ln this manner it is possible to make tl 1c reactions take place under any desired pressure and to provide any desired heating, especially uuitjorm heating, from the inner `or outer tube.

lltltl An apparatus for carrying out the new process is shown, by way of example, in vertical section in the accompanying drawing, in which: V

A is the porous diaphragm, B the gas tight envelope, C the inner compartment, D the outer compartment; E and G are the pipe con- A nections of the inner compartment and F, H

are the pipe connections of the outer compartment. l

A eatalytically acting partition for carry ing out the process, impregnated with a special' catalyzer, may be produced in the tollowing manner:

A porous porcelain tube or an asbestos tube (obtained by rolling up moistened asbestos paper onto a glass rod, 5 mm. thick, and by subsequent drying) is well impregnatedwith a solution of 60 grams otl crystallized nickel nitrate, 10 grams oi' copper nitrate, and l0 grams of borax in 500 cubic-centimeters of water, dried at a temperature as low as possible and then heated about 1/2 hour to approximately 400 C. rlhe tube having been prepared in this manner is then built into the apparatus, said apparatus is then heated to 30() to 35200 C. and hydrogen is conducted through the same at this temperature as long as water drops appear in the condenser.

The partition is especially adapted for carrying out the process as per examples l and 2. It is however known, that such partitions impregnated with catalyzers may be produc-ed y also in other manners and it is evident that the process may be modified easily with other catalyzers.

The extensive range of application of the new process may be further explained by the following examples:

Example l For the production of methanol a diaphragm is used consisting of a porous tube impregnated with a solution of 8O grams of nitrate of zinc, 10 grams of copper nitrate and 20 grams of borax in 500 cubic-centimeters of water. The tube is then well dried. At the pressure of 50-atm. above atmospheric carbon dioxide and hydrogen in a proportion ot 1 to 6 is conducted in counter-current through the apparatus said apparatus beine heated to about 380 C. The gasescooled under pressure deposit a liquid soluble in Water which consists almost entirely of methanol, at an output of 8.5% of the theoretical output, and water.

' Example 2: If sulphur dioxide and chlorine are conducted along the two surfaces ot a diaphragm at a temperature of about 130 C. and-atmospheric pressure sulphuryl chloride is produced in a yield of over 60%.

According to the new process the same pressure is applied as a rule on both sides of the partition. In special cases, if the partitions are thick or have tine porcs, there may be applied on the one side a higher pressure, which, however, must not be so high, in relation to the diusion pressure, that it forces the gas completely through the partition so that the gas on the other side of the partition is prevented from enteringit.

l claim:-

l. The art of causing reactions between dilerent gases or mixtures oi gases that react but slowly in simple mixtures, which comprises separating the two gas volumes by a porous partition and under substantially the same pressures, so that the dillusion tendency of both volumes will cause their entrance into the partition to react therein, and the product to emerge from the partition under its diffusion pressure.

2. The art of causing reactions between different gases or mixtures of gases that react but slowly in simple mixtures, which comprises separating the two gas volumes by a porous partition and under substantially the same pressures, so that the diffusion tendency of both volumes will cause their entrance into the partition to react therein, and the product to emerge from the partition under its diffusion pressure on both sides of the partition.

3. The art of causing reactions between different gases or mixtures of gases that react but slowly or not at all in simple mixtures, which comprises separating the two gas volumes by a porous partition containing a catalyst and under substantially the same pressures, so that the diffusion tendency of both volumes will cause their entrance into the partitionto react therein, and the product to emerge from the partition under its diusion pressure.

In testimony whereof I aliix my signature.

HANS WALTER. 

